I’m always looking for quick fun games that, hopefully, don’t cost me too much money. I have friends with kids — and a new niece. Since I’m not a parent yet, I have no qualms with passing somebody else’s kids an electronic device in the hopes that they’ll amuse themselves.

With that in mind, Busy Beaver caught my eye when I saw it on the Play Store. It was free and looked like a more colourful version of Tetris. Plus, it featured a beaver! There probably wasn’t a single better way to let Canadian children pass the time. I just didn’t realize I’d like it too.

Retro games are big in the Google Play Store. While lush 3D visuals are able to seduce many gamers, solid, fun and addictive gameplay can be found even in titles devoid of buttery visuals and the need for a Tegra 3 chip. Games like Tiny Tower, Game Dev Story and R:Type have racked up both huge downloads figures and positive reviews. Generation-defining classics such as PAC-MAN, Tetris and Sonic CD have also made their way onto the Android platform, and these have literally been around for decades.

It’s obvious that nostalgia gaming is massively popular. Furthermore, people are willing to pay for the pleasure. Developers like Kairosoft charge almost top dollar for their full titles, despite the fact they are made of the blocky retro graphics of the 80’s and 90’s. It was thought high time therefore to group some of these together into a comprehensive round up. From Asteroid clones and RPGs to vertical scrolling shooters and addictive platformers… they’re all here. So, put down that Rubix cube and cast your mind back to dusty arcade cabinets, pockets full of loose change and blistered thumbs – here’s a bumper roundup of retro games available on Android.

You’re probably familiar with the retro game of Tetris. The 1984 puzzle game features seven tetrominoes, with the aim being to fit them together and eliminate complete lines. If you let the tetrominoes hit the top of the screen, the game’s over.

Reverstris is literally Tetris in reverse. Rather than letting the tetrominoes fall from the top to form lines, you remove shapes by drawing them onto the blocks. It’s a fun twist on the popular game and an entertaining time waster. (more…)